Opinion: Alternative energy sources benefit rural areas

Bill Richards and Fred Yoder are leaders of 25x'25, a national alliance to help America's farms, ranches and forestlands meet 25 percent of the nation's energy needs with renewable sources by 2025.

As the political machinations unfold in Columbus over a proposed freeze of Ohio's energy standards, we have to ask: Why is the legislature trying to "fix" something that isn't broken? If the measure to impose a two-year freeze gets to the desk of Gov. John Kasich, we would hope that he would ask the same question.

As lifelong agricultural producers, we have witnessed first-hand the major economic benefits the locally sited requirements of the standard provide, particularly its rural areas.

When implemented in January 2009, the energy standard required utilities to secure a growing portion of their electricity supply from alternative energy resources, eventually reaching 25 percent of the electricity sold each year by 2025. At least 12.5 percent must be generated from renewable energy resources, including wind, hydro, biomass and at least 0.5 percent solar. The remainder is to come from "advanced" energy resources, including nuclear, "clean" coal and certain types of fuel cells.

The proposal now making its way to the House would freeze the standard at this year's levels for two years, ostensibly to "study" its impact. It's a short-sighted and somewhat heavy-handed effort by utilities and groups funded by fossil fuel interests to ultimately kill the standard and protect their share of the power market.

The standard has driven more than $1 billion in investment in the state's clean energy sector. In the wind energy sector alone, the power supply chain, which includes a nation-leading 62 manufacturing facilities, provides more than 3,000 manufacturing, construction and support jobs in the state – a number that can only grow going forward.

Have Ohio electricity prices gone up? Yes. But the increases are primarily in the costs generated by older, conventional power plants to meet stricter environmental standards.

A poll last month of state voters showed that more than 70 percent of those surveyed favor renewable energy over traditional power plants, while 86 percent support mandated utility energy efficiency programs.

That magnitude of voter support underscores why the energy legislation received virtually unanimous bipartisan support in Columbus six years ago.

It's a scale in public sentiment that should not be dismissed by complaints from large utilities, which would use the proposed "freeze" of the standard to sustain a "business as usual" approach to the state's energy strategy.

We urge Gov. Kasich to reverse his endorsement of SB 310 and fend off efforts to weaken forward-looking energy policies. Now is the time for him to clearly demonstrate his support of the state's clean energy standard as expressed in comments he made at a summit at Ohio State a little more than two years ago, when he told more than 1,000 clean-energy leaders, "The pursuit of clean alternative, renewable and advanced energy sources, and their supportive technologies, is the pursuit of the future, and our commitment to them shouldn't waiver." ■